Can't Let Go
by ahsinam33
Summary: Jellal is badly hurt and is dying. And Erza has no choice but to wait by his side while desperately hoping that Wendy would arrive in time. Will Jellal make it?


**I'm finally here with a new Jerza story. I was actually working on another fanfic but then I started writing this one. This story was originally written just to please myself and I hadn't intended to post it because it's mostly fluff. Or maybe not... I'm not sure what to call it. But I decided to make a few changes and make it worthy of being posted. Hope you guys enjoy it!**

**And like my other stories, Jellal is a free man in this one too. Also, he's married to Erza. So everyone, it's time for some Jerza!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. It belongs to Hiro Mashima.**

* * *

**Can't Let Go**

Erza was panicking. And she had no other option. Panicking was probably the only thing any person in her situation could do.

After all, her husband was dying.

The team had taken a simple mission to capture some thieves. It wasn't supposed to be too dangerous and it wouldn't have been if the thieves hadn't turned out to be a dark guild in disguise. So instead of taking out a few measly robbers, the Fairy Tail wizards found themselves battling against a dark guild. Most of the thieves were pretty weak and so they didn't face too much trouble. But the top two mages of the dark guild were quite powerful and somehow, Erza and Jellal ended up fighting against the stronger of the two in the abandoned warehouse they were using as their base while the rest of the team chased the other one outside.

Both won their respective battles but in the process, Jellal got hit by a powerful energy beam and though he had managed to deliver the finishing blow, he collapsed to the floor moments later. Erza had rushed to his side only to have Jellal tell her that he could barely move and it seemed that this was his end. The image of Simon during his last moments flashed before her and, determined to not let the same thing happen to Jellal, Erza used telepathy to contact the rest of her teammates. But considering that it seemed eerily silent outside, they probably weren't near the warehouse and it would take some time before they would reach her. And she wasn't sure if Jellal had that much time left.

Yes, panicking was indeed the only thing she could do. And naturally, it wasn't long before she burst into tears.

"You can't die!" Erza sobbed. "Not after everything we've been through! Don't leave me... Please..."

"I'm so... sorry..." Jellal said between ragged breaths. "I'm... sorry..."

"You have to live," Erza said forcefully. "Don't you dare die on me. Just stay awake until our teammates come. You're going to make it... You have to!"

But Jellal was now finding it extremely hard to breathe, let alone keep his eyes open. It was so ironical. Back when he wanted to die, he couldn't. Somehow or the other, he'd make his way out of the situation alive. For instance, when he took Erza's place in the lacrima of the Tower of Heaven, he was ready to lay down his life. He most certainly hadn't expected to be revived by a certain Dragon Slayer. He even cast a self-destruction spell on himself afterwards. But even then, he didn't die; Erza wouldn't let him. Jellal was also ready to die at the hands of the Magic Council. However, Ultear and Meredy broke him out of jail before he could be executed. And now when he didn't want to die, it seemed that fate decided otherwise. And to think that he had all the reason in the world to keep on living now. Life just didn't want to be fair to him.

"Erza," he called in a hoarse voice. "Calm down and listen to me."

"Just wait, Jellal," Erza said, desperately glancing at the door to her right. She was praying that her teammates would arrive soon. If Wendy came then Jellal would be saved.

"Look at me, Erza," Jellal said with as much force he could manage. "Listen to what I have to say. You'll... regret it later if you don't."

"And just what is that supposed to mean?" asked Erza still not looking at her husband.

"Because you... probably won't... ever get the chance to... to talk to me after this..."

"What?" asked a confused Erza finally looking at Jellal. Jellal gave her a stern look and the sinister meaning of his words dawned on her.

"Don't say that!" she cried out, tears streaming down her face. "Of course we'll be able to talk. We have so much more to talk about. We–"

"Erza," Jellal said in a soft voice cutting her off. He winced in pain and then continued, "Always... remember that I love you."

"I know that. You can tell me that later."

"And I... want you to be happy."

"Everybody knows that, Jellal."

"So I want you... to try to move on..."

"Stop!" Erza shouted. "Stop talking if you're only going to tell me things like that! Save your energy and you can tell me whatever you want to later."

"I really... love you... Erza," Jellal said with great difficulty. "I'm so sorry... that I made you... cry again..."

"Stop talking," Erza sobbed. "Please, I'm begging you!"

"Could you please... say that you... that you love me? One last time?"

"Of course I love you! And this isn't the last time; you'll hear it a thousand more times!"

"Thank you... Erza..." said Jellal with a weak smile slowly closing his eyes. "I love you too..."

Jellal knew he wouldn't make it this time. And as horrible as the fact was, Erza would just have to accept it.

"Don't close your eyes!" Erza screamed. This couldn't be happening. After everything they had been through, things just couldn't end like this! Erza couldn't help but wish that they had never taken this mission.

"Why is this happening? Why?!" she shouted shutting her eyes tightly, tears coursing down her cheeks.

"Erza!" a male voice suddenly called.

Erza opened her eyes and quickly turned her head to see Natsu and the others running towards her. She felt extremely relieved and just hoped that they weren't too late. Erza looked down to see Jellal's eyes still open ever so slightly. There was still a chance! But Jellal smiled at her and then shut his eyes completely, the last thing he heard being Erza's heart-wrenching cry, "JELLAL!"

* * *

Jellal slowly opened his eyes and winced at the blinding light. He groaned and tried to get adjusted to it. When he did, the first thing he saw was Erza's worried face staring down at him. He looked up at her with a confused look but she simply let out a sigh of relief and sat down on the chair at his bedside.

"I ought to punish you for scaring me like that," Erza muttered.

"Huh?" asked Jellal. His mind refused to work and he couldn't exactly register what was happening.

"Don't you remember what happened?" Erza enquired.

Jellal's brain finally started working again and he remembered just what had happened; he was dying a while back. But strangely, he was currently very much alive and though his body was still aching, it didn't hurt horribly like before.

"I'm alive," he uttered in amazement.

"Yes, you are," said Erza. "Wendy managed to heal you and then we brought you back to the hotel. That was quite a few hours ago though. I'm glad you're finally awake."

"How did she manage to heal me? That's strange... How can I still be alive?"

Erza bowed her head and remained silent for some time but soon started shaking with anger.

"Why you..." she growled. "How could you say that?!" Erza shouted, roughly standing up sending her chair toppling to the floor. "Did you _want_ to die? Huh?"

"What? No, of course not," Jellal replied, flinching at his wife's angry tone.

"Oh really?" asked Erza, now snapping. "Then just what is wrong with you, huh? You're miraculously alive and instead of thanking your lucky stars, the best thing you can say is 'how can I still be alive'? What's your problem, Jellal? How could you always think so negatively? Even back then you were behaving as though you knew you were going to die for sure. You wouldn't even let me hope that you'd make it. Do you have any idea how troublesome your attitude is? Can't you be a bit more positive?!"

Jellal was startled at Erza's sudden outburst. He looked at her with wide eyes wondering what to say to her.

"I'm sorry, Erza," he finally said.

"Stop saying you're sorry all the time!" Erza shrieked.

"Okay, okay. Just calm down now," Jellal said with a frown. Apologizing seemed like the best option to him. But boy, was he wrong; he'd only managed to anger her even more.

Erza let out a deep breath and turned around to pick up the chair. After putting it back in place, she turned to face Jellal only to find him trying to sit up on his own. Erza frowned but propped his pillow against the headboard and helped him sit upright.

"You could have asked me for help," she said.

"You seemed so angry that I didn't want to bother you," Jellal replied.

"Seriously? Now that hurts. I can't believe you'd think like that..."

Jellal opened his mouth to tell her that he was just joking but closed it when he heard someone knocking at the door.

"Is everything okay in there?" Lucy asked from outside. "I heard a lot of shouting."

"Everything's fine," Erza answered. "Sorry about that. Come in."

The door opened to reveal Lucy, Wendy and Carla. Seeing Jellal sitting up on the bed, Wendy beamed and exclaimed, "So you're finally awake!"

"Yeah," said Jellal with a smile. "And it's all thanks to you. Remind me to give you a thank-you gift when we get back home."

"You don't need to do that," said Wendy. "It's rewarding enough to see that you're okay." Wendy then turned to Erza and asked, "But why were you shouting?"

"Because Jellal doesn't know how to be happy like a normal person," Erza grumbled in reply.

Wendy blinked in confusion while Lucy and Carla sweatdropped at Erza's vague answer. The blonde decided that it was best that they didn't pry into the matter.

"We'll give you two some privacy then," Lucy informed. "And I'll make sure that the boys don't come here."

Erza nodded and her friends left the room. She would have told them to stay but she really wanted some time alone with Jellal. After all, he almost died today. She almost felt her heart shattering into pieces when he closed his eyes back then. At the moment, Erza was absolutely ecstatic that Jellal was breathing and alive. But the redhead suddenly realized that she wasn't showing how happy she was. Instead, she had been shouting at Jellal since soon after he regained consciousness.

"Sorry for yelling at you," she said, feeling guilty.

"It's okay. You had a rough day. Now come and sit here," Jellal beckoned, patting the edge of the bed. Erza did as told and Jellal stretched out his arms.

"Want a hug?" he asked.

Erza didn't answer but immediately moved closer to Jellal and wrapped her arms around him. A hug was definitely what she needed. Jellal returned the embrace and Erza pressed closer to him, burying her head in the crook of his neck. He gently stroked her hair and they remained in comfortable silence for some time.

"I love you, Jellal," Erza suddenly said.

"Glad to hear that," Jellal said with a smile.

"I told you that I'd say those words a thousand more times," Erza whispered. "I'll make sure you hear them at least a million more times."

"I'll be looking forward to that," Jellal chuckled and continued to run his hands through her scarlet tresses. It felt good to be able to do that; he really thought that he'd never get the chance again. He was amazed by how he had managed to evade death once more. Maybe he wasn't so unlucky after all...

Jellal snapped out of his thoughts when he felt Erza trembling against him. It didn't take him long to realize that she had started crying.

"What's wrong?" he asked with a frown. "Everything's fine now. Why are you crying?"

"How could you say that?" she asked, her voice muffled against his shirt.

"How could I say what?" questioned a confused Jellal.

"How could you even _think_ that I could ever move on?"

Jellal remained silent for a while and then realized what Erza was talking about. She was referring to what he had told her back at the warehouse.

"Oh come on," said Jellal. "You can't possibly be upset about _that_."

"How could I not?" Erza asked, still holding Jellal in a tight embrace. "You should know better than to tell me things like that. What if you were in my place? Would you be able to move on if I died?"

"Hmmm, let's see," said Jellal in a mock-serious tone. "If that were to happen maybe I could try it out with Ultear. I wonder how she'd react if I made a move on her..." he added, putting on a thoughtful look.

Erza pulled away from Jellal and looked at him in shock. She saw her husband's serious face and, instead of laughing at his obvious joke as Jellal had hoped, she only started crying even harder than before.

"Erza!" Jellal cried out. "I was just joking! How could you not understand that?"

He pulled her into an embrace again and rubbed her back soothingly. Erza's behavior was perplexing him. It was true that she was more vulnerable in front of him than when she was with others but the way she was behaving was still pretty strange. She really must have been scared. Not like he could blame her though.

"Stop crying, Erza," Jellal said in a soft voice. "I only told you to move on because I didn't want to be selfish. I just want you to be happy, sweetheart. And besides, I told you to _try_ to move on; I didn't order you to."

"I know," Erza mumbled. "I'm sorry. I guess I'm just being paranoid now."

"Maybe," Jellal replied, glad that she was calming down.

Erza remained silent for some time before pulling back to look at Jellal.

"Just don't leave me, okay?" she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Jellal laughed at the childish look she was giving him but nodded in reply with a smile.

"Promise?" Erza asked.

"I promise," Jellal assured her.

Erza gave him a contented smile and wrapped her arms around him, engulfing him in a tight bear hug. She didn't care how much trouble she'd have to go through to keep Jellal near her. She struggled so much in the past so there was no way she'd lose him so easily now. She would hold on to him with all her might so that she could be with him. One thing was for sure; she wasn't going to let him go.

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**Did you like the story? I hope you did. And I think that the characters weren't OOC but you're free to tell me if you think otherwise. **

**Please review and tell me what you think!**


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